B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Cuts Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 27.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,806 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,617 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the company's stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,715 shares of the company's stock valued at $853,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,649 shares of the company's stock valued at $845,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 30,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,896,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JT Stratford LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 11,091 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,409,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SFM shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $167.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total value of $143,743.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,830 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,326,755.10. This represents a 9.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 229 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total transaction of $31,929.47. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,226 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,425,811.18. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 149,547 shares of company stock valued at $22,307,280. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of SFM traded up $6.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $173.47. 2,423,670 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,448,570. The company has a market cap of $16.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.14, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52 week low of $74.15 and a 52 week high of $178.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.52.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the retailing of fresh, natural, and organic food products under the Sprouts brand in the United States. It offers perishable product categories, including fresh produce, meat and meat alternatives, seafood, deli, bakery, floral, and dairy and dairy alternatives; and non-perishable product categories, such as grocery, vitamins and supplements, bulk items, frozen foods, beer and wine, and natural health and body care.